Sample Essay for RBI Grade B 2019

SAMPLE ESSAYS FOR RBI GRADE B

2019
1. IMPACT OF DIGITAL INDIA
Digital India is a forerunner Programme by the Government of India to transform India into a digitally
empowered society and knowledge economy. In last decade Government came up with various e-governance
initiatives which were citizen centric. However they have not been able to make the desired impact and fulfill
desired objectives. In order to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy,
current government has come up with an idea of Digital India Programme. The campaign aims to develop a
digitally empowered society and to digitally integrate the government departments and the citizens of India. It
aims at ensuring the government services are made available to people of India electronically.

The whole process of digitalizing India is much needed one as it catalysis the phase of growth and
development in the country. There is a need to digitize basic facilities and necessities today to remain
competitive in the global arena of development and growth. Getting basic amenities from the government like
birth, death certificates, paying of water, property, etc. taxes, PDS to citizen and specific facilities like lodging
police complaint application to a government job requires complete digitization to avoid the impediments that
one shall encounter when they are done in conventional way.

Integrating all services provided by the government through digital portals will serve two kinds of purposes:
One the government can cater to large number of people in a simple, cost effective, easy way at a short span
of time and secondly government can keep track of services that are being provided without much stress.
Integrating government services can be achieved through the UIDAI ( Aadhar) cards.

Digital India campaign by the government also focuses on the areas of providing internet connectivity to larger
extent, digitizing government offices to avoid “red-tapism”, providing cloud based data services (Digital
locker), protecting citizen information (National Cyber Security Policy 2013) by placing data hosting centers in
India and improvising the quality and speed of the data services by improvising the telecommunication
infrastructure.

India should also concentrate much on cyber security part due to large scale data thefts in PSUs since the
whole idea of cyber security is an evolving phenomena, creating a successive competitive environment to the
telecos, safeguarding the citizen’s interest by assuring the privacy on data and limiting the service giants on
the use of user data. Digital India aims at providing greater Connectivity and greater access to information so
that people can be benefitted with the development and government policies for them.

Another advantage of greater penetration of Information Technology will enable citizens to file grievance
online, book tickets online, go through the feedbacks of other tourists which will help them fining nice tourist
spot with better hotels. It will also boost economy as nowadays many traders and business houses have gone

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online to sell their products. It benefits buyers also because these online traders facilitate home delivery of
products. People will get more options for a particular product and it will improve competition in market. Also
internet connectivity through high speed highways will help students and teachers to find information about
any topic, so it is good for education also. People can access government services like Passport Seva, Income
Tax Filling, Pan Card application, Submission of electricity Bill etc. Which are online. It will make their lives
easier and hassle free.

The Vision area of digital India is Infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen Governance and Services on Demand
and Digital Empowerment of Citizens etc. The Infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen with High speed internet
as a core utility shall be made available in all Gram Panchayats. Cradle to grave digital identity shall be made
unique, lifelong, online and authenticable. Mobile phone and Bank account would enable participation in
digital and financial space at individual level. It provides an easy access to a Common Service Centre within
their locality and a shareable private space on a public domain. In other words, it envisions a safe and secure
Cyber-space in the country.

Governance and Services on Demand are seamlessly integrated across departments or jurisdictions to provide
easy and a single window access to all persons. The Government services which are available in real time from
online and mobile platforms and the citizen entitlements to be available on the Cloud to ensure easy access.
Government services digitally transformed above a threshold, electronic and cashless and leveraging GIS (
Geographical Information System ) for decision support systems and development.

Digital India envisions Digital Empowerment of Citizens with a view to achieving Universal digital literacy. It
aims to provide the much needed boost to several pillars of growth like establishing broadband highways,
universal access to mobile connectivity, public internet access Programme, e-governance, electronic delivery
system, information for all etc.

While on one hand government is creating an environment where can easily access government services on
electronic devices so that corruption and loss of data can be handled and efficiency of system can be
increased, on the other side the government has come up with a much important initiative called as “Green
India” to protect our habitat. Green India aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing forest covers and
responding to climate change by combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.

A digital India in full bloom is a behemoth project that requires huge amount of money and resources.
However for the larger and enduring prosperity of the country that will be heralded in the aftermath of
digitalization of India, it holds good.

2. COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE BY INDIA

Climate change simply refers to change in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to the increase
level of atmospheric greenhouse gases caused by anthropogenic factors like burning of fossil fuels. The
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbon etc. have been present in the atmosphere
to keep this planet warm for the existence of human life. However concentration of such gases in the

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atmosphere has resulted in enhanced greenhouse effect. As a result world’s average surface temperature has
increased by around 0.6 degrees Celsius over last 100 years. The changing climate patterns have already made
significant impact on our planet. Melting of polar ice caps, change in rainfall patterns, increase in frequency of
hurricanes, storms are few of the adverse effect of climate change. Scientists predict that due to ongoing
activities contributing to global warming, the average global temperature could increase between 1.4 and 6
degrees Celsius in the 21st century.

It’s naked truth that developed countries in the world contribute largely to the concentration of greenhouse
gasses in the atmosphere. For example, the United States constitutes 5 percent of the world population and
contributes to 22 percent of world’s carbon emission. Deforestation, change in use of land , increasing
automobiles, modern gadgets like air-conditioners, refrigerators et al al add substantially to the percentage of
greenhouse gasses. We are, therefore heading towards a hot planet in coming years and proceeding further
we will soon find a barren earth gradually losing all its vitality. The need of the hour is to combat climate
change at all levels be it individual, regional, national and global. World bodies including the UN have been
completely engrossed in hammering out measures to contain climate change. At national level all the civilized
in hammering out measures to contain climate change . At national level all the civilized countries should also
make blueprints and implement to tackle the effect of climate change and to increase the sustaining capacity
of the atmosphere. India is no exception to such great human endeavor.

India has decided to have 40% of the total installed power capacity in 2030 based on non-fossil fuel-based
currently; renewable energy, nuclear energy and hydropower together contribute 30% of the overall installed
capacity. With power production expected to triple, this will amount to 320 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity.
India is also seeking investments of U.S. $100 billion over seven years to boost the domestic solar energy
capacity by 33 times to 1,00,000 megawatts by 2022. Nuclear capacity is also expected to increase more than
ten times to 63GW and hydro power is expected to double to 84 GW, with land availability being the key
concern. Additional carbon sinks of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent will be created by
2030. An afforestation fund has also been set up. It is meant to encourage the setting up of projects on forest
land. The government has also planned to develop a 1,40,000-km tree-line along both sides of the national
highways. Governmental efforts has made change an integral part of national transformation. This geopolitical
Shift is also providing India the confidence to shape the new rules. Government has also called for countries
to “take into account the levels of development of various countries and allow them the developmental space
so that they can also aspire to become middle and developed countries”.

National Action Plan on Climate Change initiated in 2008 has been operational for climate mitigation and
adaptation. There are twelve comprehensive mission are in vogue to this effect. The missions target both at
mitigation by utilizing renewable energy sources like sun, wind and afforestation and at adaptation by
initiating service mission and seek to create more knowledge on useful climate response.

The intended Nationally Determined Contributions state that India’s “objective in Paris in December 2015 is to
establish an effective, cooperative and equitable global architecture”. Three key elements of this framework
are: Promoting sustainable production processes and sustainable lifestyles across the globe; Creation regime
where facilitative technology transfer replaces an exploitative market-driven mechanism; A common
understanding of universal progress.
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INDC are individual country’s commitments which are expected to indicate their form and strength what
shape any 2015 agreement might take. So countries have agreed to publicly outline what post 2020 climate
actions they intend to take under a new international agreement which is nothing but INDC. INDC not only
contain step towards emission reduction but also aim to address steps taken to adopt climate change impacts
and what kind of support country needs or will provide to address climate change. With Kyoto Protocol due to
expire in 2020, countries across globe are committed to create new international climate change agreement
under UNFCC framework. INDC allows countries voluntaries to set their contribution in context of national
priorities, circumstances and capabilities.

As per INDC, India has committed to cut the emissions intensity of GDP by 35% by 2030 from 2005 levels. India
would need to spend at least 2.5$ trillions between 2015 to 2030 on mitigation activities to meet targets as
part of INDC submission to UNFCCC.The positive aspect is since in India much infrastructure is yet to e built;
the central and state governments can adopt greenest technologies to ensure that the long term impact on
emissions is positive. Incentivizing citizen investment in roof top solar installation would unlock private funds
and help country exceed the 100 GW which is being aimed to be generated from this source.

But the current emphasis on emission reductions focuses on symptoms rather than causes and solutions.
Faced with global ecological limits, focus has to shift from ‘environment risk management’ to ‘economic
growth within ecological limits’.

It has been estimated that currently three ‘basic’ human needs like housing, food, mobility directly accounts
for 80% of resource use, 40% of energy demand and 36% of carbon dioxide emissions. Experts say the
situation can be improved if nearly two-fifth of the cumulative emission reductions required by 2050 could
come from efficiency improvements such as the transport, energy, housing and food systems should be
transformed. Focus should be on long term remedies. Periodic reviews of national contributions should be
undertaken.

India’s strategy should include transformation of various sectors but not on cost of increasing consumption of
coal energy. India has also taken the initiative to host a meeting of “sunshine” countries before the Paris
summit, to forge a common platform on sharing research and looking for common financial solutions. India
has also proposed to set up a global virtual centre for clean energy research and development and fund
collaborative projects. Experts opinions emphasize that India should integrate its Smart Cities campaign into a
plan for low carbon development of cities.

3. USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICS

Politics is bridge between the ruler and the ruled and the nation and ruling dispensation. In between them
various media play irreplaceable roles and functions. The geographical distance from each other, the largeness
of the ruled and urgency of communication have put in place different forms of media depending upon tone
and tenor of time. Media can be defined as means of mass communication with the help of television, radio,
internet, newspapers and social media like Facebook, twitter etc. In this era of globalized world, media have

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got more power and influence. The media have changed relationship between individuals, politics and
information. There is interdependence between politics and media.

Social Media has rapidly grown in importance as a forum for political activism in its different forms. Social
media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube provide new ways to stimulate citizen engagement
in political life, where elections and electoral campaigns have a central role.

Personal communication via social media brings politicians and parties closer to their potential voters. It
allows politicians to communicate faster and reach citizens in a more targeted manner and vice versa, without
the intermediate role of mass media. Reactions feedback, conversations and debates are generated online as
well as support and for offline events. Messages posted to personal networks are multiplied when
participation shared, which allow new audiences to be reached.

Although the presence of social media is spreading and media use patterns are changing, Online political
engagement is largely restricted to people already active in politics and on the internet. Other Audiences are
less responsive. For example: television news together with print and online newspapers is still the most
important sources of political information in many developed and developing countries.
Social media has reshaped structures and methods of contemporary political communication by influencing
the way politicians interact with citizens and each other. However, the role of this phenomenon in increasing
political engagement and electoral participation is neither clear nor simple.

The relationship between media and politics becomes more evident in the time of pre-election and elections.
Media effect political election and their campaigns by communicating the agenda and manifestos of different
political parties. The strong influence of media on political election can change the fate of any electoral
candidate or party. Media play a dominant role by informing electorate about the gubernatorial dispensation
and nature of the government. It also influences people's perception about politics by making flow of
information easy. It provides an effective platform to political parties and their candidates in pre-election
campaign to demonstrate their ideologies and bring popular support for their election manifestos. Social
media play a pioneering role in educating and shaping the opinion of voters. Nowadays Facebook and twitter
are taking a lead in spreading the views of political candidates and reforming the ideas of general public.
Media depiction of candidates for political post or political parties proves decisive in ensuring their acceptance
or non-acceptance.

The use of modern technology has changed the way of conducting the election campaigns and election
procedures. Today, most of the political candidates communicate with people using social network websites
such as Facebook and twitter. The researches of 18th century indicate that the most important factors of
affecting people's choices regarding political candidate were party association, loyalty, personality of the
political candidate and his/her idea. Today, this order of choices has been overturned. Recent research shows
that the personality of the candidate and his/her idea regarding different social issues are deciding elements.
Political advertising which is an important feature of the pre-election campaign is made widespread by the
media. Social media websites are being increasingly used for the purpose of political advertisement.
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Supportive views and counter comments on various issues related politics, society, and education are analyzed
on the pages of the social media. Facebook groups and pages are used to evaluate the number of expected
voters and followers of any political party. It may influence choices of voters in favour of one political
candidate or another.

The influence of social media on politics of our time is second to none. It helps make politics more transparent
and accountable. Any lapse, vandalism and vendettas of politicians are spread to the nook and corner through
the social media. It makes people aware about the issue and presents their views against such lapses. As a
result men and women who man politics become conscious of their duties and responsibilities and think twice
before greasing their palms through black and illicit means.

4. WHAT KIND OF CRISIS IS INDIA FACING – MORAL OR

ECONOMICS?
It is a fact that India like most countries in the world is facing tough crisis that emerge out of the socio-cultural
and political milieus. Being the largest democracy and vast country, India is found to be in grip of economic
crisis sometimes. But does economic crisis really affect India's growth or anything else that counter every
move of the government(s) for the progress and prosperity of the country? India is secular and democratic
nation rich in natural resources. It is endowed with all the potentials for achieving economic growth.
After nearly seven decades of independence, India is still termed as a country with largest number of poor
people. So is India suffering from economic crisis?

The present economic growth rate is not unsatisfactory. Supportive government policies, well-experienced
programmes in employment, education, infrastructure building etc. have paid well. The per capita income of
the country is showing upward trend. The advent of e-governance has brought some transparency in
delivering public services. However, the effects of the growth are yet to influence the parametres of overall
national growth. India is still considered a developing economy. Infested with poverty, diseased with pollution,
devoid of required strength of skilled population and several other distracting factors inhibit the growth of
India into a developed nation.

The main crisis today is of morals. In the freedom struggle people with a steady income in their profession
gave up their jobs and joined Mahatma Gandhi in spite of personal loss to themselves. It was all missionary
zeal. Today hardly anybody who is reasonably successful in his vocation would like to leave that and join
politics and public life. The result is all the political parties are saddled with people for whom politics is their
main business. Anna Hazare cannot succeed by getting a Lokpal appointed because the ultimate power is with
representatives of people and unless the moral status improves we will always have a second class
Government and not a first class one. In the Western countries also there is corruption. But the public at large
is not affected because the police, the courts, schools, hospitals etc. do not extort money from the poor man.
Corruption is confined to the higher echelons. In India there is corruption at the higher level for mutual
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benefit of the corporate sector and politicians and extortion at the lower level where the hapless common
man has to pay to get even his rightful job done. The need of the hour is to contain corruption from our
country. Till politicians are blatantly corrupt, the bureaucrats right from the secretary level to the clerks make
money and a corrupt politician cannot obviously act against them. If all this continues as it is, democracy itself
will be in danger.

Moral and ethical values seems to have become myths in India. With the westernization the present
generation is flown like a dry leaf in the direction of wind. Partial westernization of Indian culture, traditional
values and modes of living has had paralyzing effect on the age-old heritage of ours. We can hardly find
people who value our customs and traditions which are the basis of India. The cases of killing, rape, robbery,
deception and vandalism are now a regular news item. Speaking truth is considered a great mistake. People
who speak lies are on the front line. The law and order situation in the country today is a great evidence for
the shameful acts. Rape in the broad daylight even in the nation's capital amply establishes the fact that India
is now not a safe place for women. Even after good laws in place, women are scared to present themselves
vividly with some exceptions. The scandals and the corruption index in the country indicate the fall of our
moral. We as People of a great nation seem to have run away from moral duties and responsibilities for
the reason best known to us.

5. DIRECT BENEFIT TRANSFER – CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN PEOPLES AND

GOVERNMENTS

Direct Benefit Transfer is a poverty reduction measure where government subsidies and other benefits are
given directly to the poor in cash rather than in the forms of subsidies. The DBT ventures to define a new
social structure which is bold in its vision, sincere in its intention and has a strong transformational potential.

The central government has announced the DBT initiative with the aim of ensuring better and more timely
delivery of benefits to the people. This marks a paradigm shift, where the state is clearly taking responsibility
to ensure that the welfare schemes and basic entitlement reach the intended beneficiaries much more
effectively than at present. Several countries in the world have adopted such schemes for the betterment of
the poor and the needy.

The DBT programme aims that entitlements and benefits to people can be transferred directly to them
through biometric-based Aadhaar linked bank account, thus reducing several layers of intermediaries and
delays in the system.

The link to Aadhaar and the use of biometric ensures that the problems of duplicate (the same person getting
the benefit more than once) and ghost beneficiaries (a non-existent person getting the benefit) are addressed.
It also makes it possible for money to reach the intended beneficiaries directly on time. For example, pensions,
which reach the beneficiary once every four to six months in many parts of India, can now reach his bank
account on the first day of every month. Further, a dense Business Correspondent network on the ground with
micro ATMs will allow payments to happen at people's doorsteps, ensuring that the poor get the same level of
service that the rich and middle-class in India get.
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So, the DBT measures, being more transparent and alternative policies, can be directed to those in need more
effectively than any scheme that goes through layers of bureaucracy Second, cash benefits are emancipatory.
They enable people to make choices how to spend their money, depending on their priorities. Cash benefits
can facilitate investment, helping families break the shackles on small-scale production. Cash benefits paid
regularly each month, provide a source of insurance. The regularity of money leads to make the disadvantaged
feel some basic security.

From long list of government schemes, some lend themselves more easily than others to a reformed system of
direct transfer of benefits, with the use of Aadhaar to authenticate beneficiaries. These include: Public
Distribution System, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), fertilizer
subsidy, LPG subsidy, Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), payments to workers under the Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS), pension payments, cash and noncash transfers in the education system, health programmes
(payment of ASHA workers, payment under Janani Suraksha Yojana). For all these schemes, it is assumed that
there is just a basic automation of the delivery process using Aadhaar and the scheme is not tinkered with.
Today transfer of LPG subsidies to beneficiaries' bank account is a grand success in our country.

Though the DBT measure will go a long way in delivering economic benefits to the deserved, it is faced with
many challenges. Most of the schemes have the state governments playing the main role in implementing the
scheme. To ensure coordination between the reform plans and state-wise implementation is a significant
challenge. Till date, Aadhaar numbers have been provided only to a quarter of the population. There ought to
be a universal coverage of Aadhaar if economic growth targets to benefit every citizen of India especially the
poor and the needy. Wherever direct cash transfer is involved, the main role of delivering the transfer is
played by the banking channel. Till date a considerable portion of population does not have bank accounts.
The presence of business correspondents in rural areas where bank branches are not viable and opening of
zero-balance non-frill accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will gradually make up for the lack of
bank connectivity . There are infrastructure gaps that impede the development of the banking networks in
some remote regions . Connectivity is poor, cash movement is risky, and it is difficult to ensure timely delivery
of the benefits. There is a need to plug some loopholes including the aforesaids for making the scheme a
grand success.

6. GOODS AND SERVICE TAX – NEEDS AND PECULIARITIES

Goods and Service Tax (GST) is an indirect tax. It replaces all other taxes such as octroi, central sales tax, state-
level sales tax, excise duty, service tax, and value-added tax (VAT) Both the states and the central
governments will impose GST on all goods and services produced in India or imported into the country.
However exports will not be subject to GST. Direct taxes such as income tax, corporate tax and capital gains
tax will not be affected.

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GST is a comprehensive tax levied on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services at a national
level. Through a tax credit mechanism, this tax is collected on value- added goods and services at each stage of
sale or purchase in the supply chain. The system allows the set-off of GST paid on the procurement of goods
and services against the GST which is payable on the supply of goods or services. However, the end consumer
bears this tax as he is the last person in the supply chain. Experts say that GST is likely to improve tax
collections and boost India's economic development by breaking tax barriers between States and integrating
India through a uniform tax rate.

Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through a
lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions. It is expected to help build a transparent
and corruption-free tax administration. GST will be levied only at the destination point and not at various
points (from manufacturing to retail outlets).Currently, a manufacturer needs to pay tax when a finished
product moves out from a factory, and it is again taxed at the retail outlet when sold. The GST will be
highly beneficial for India Inc. as the average tax burden on companies will fall. Reducing production costs will
make exporters more competitive. It is estimated that India will gain $15 billion a year by implementing the
Goods and Services Tax as it would promote exports, raise employment and boost growth.

In the GST system, both Central and State taxes will be collected at the point of sale. Both components (the
Central and State GST) will be charged on the manufacturing cost This will benefit individuals as prices are
likely to come down. Lower prices will lead to more consumption, thereby helping companies.

India is planning to implement a dual GST system. Under dual GST, a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST)
and a State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) will be levied on the taxable value of a transaction. All goods and
services, barring a few exceptions, will be brought into the GST base. There will be no distinction between
goods and services.

There are lots of disagreement between political parties and between interest groups over inclusion and
deletion of provisions of the current GST Bill. The government should remove flaws in the Constitutional
Amendment Bill and build a consensus with the states on a flawless GST. The Bill, to give the Centre and states
concurrent powers to tax goods and services, is a right step what is not correct is a 1% extra levy proposed to
be charged every time goods move from one state to another. This will add to the cascade of taxes that

Products bear and raise the cost of raw material, capital and finished goods. Likewise other issues like extra
levy, inclusion of alcohol, tobacco should be addressed amicably to establish a comprehensive tax structure
for goods and services in our country.

7. IMPACT OF FDI IN RETAIL ON AGRICULTURE

Organized retailing in the indian agriculture ia seen to be in a budding stage when foreign direct investment
(FDI) has been on a constant rise in retail sector. Permission for FDI in multi-brand retail in India by the

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Government has been criticized by many. However, the Government has defended this policy decision by
claiming that introduction of FDl would benefit the farmers in a number of different ways, notably by
eliminating the exploitative middlemen and giving better prices to farmers. It has also been claimed that
entry of retail giants will greatly improve the agricultural marketing infrastructure and wastage problems will
be solved. FDI in retail sector will inject competition and efficiencies create new jobs across the country and
reduce the considerable difference in farm gate, wholesale and retail prices. However several concerns have
been raised regarding this policy. It has been argued that these retail giants will form a monopolistic regime
which will adversely affect the interest of the farmers in the long run. It is also believed entry of retail giants in
agricultural marketing will result in the displacement of small farmers, asset- poor small farmers will be unable
to meet the quality demands set by the retail giants and will be eventually driven out of the market.

FDI can be a potent stimulant to encourage competition in the retail industry, considering the current scenario
of low competition and poor productivity. Foreign investment in food-based retailing is expected to ensure a
fair flow of capital into the country and its productive use in a manner likely to promote the welfare of all
sections of society, mainly of farmers and consumers. It would also help bring about improvements
in farmers income and agricultural growth and assist in lowering consumer prices inflation.

During the recent years the food inflation has gone up by a double digit growth and whenever the control
measures have been put in place, they relate to the supply side of the food chain. FDI in retail will give boost
to the backward linkages which is necessary for controlling food inflation. Players in the organized retail sector
will create adequate infrastructure facilities, thereby reducing wastage and increasing the supply of
commodities, bringing down their prices considerably.

With regards to consumers in India, FDI in retail sector is welcome step forward as they are likely to
experiment with different brands and price bargaining. Apart from providing Indian consumers more options
in the form of reputed, good quality brands, liberalizing multi-brand retailing in India is likely to facilitate much
greater inflows of investments. This, in turn, will lead to the development of more efficient and lower cost of
supply chains, resulting in better quality as well as lower-priced products for Indian consumers. This will
increase consumer spending, which in turn, will drive growth in all sectors of the economy in a virtuous cycle.

The existing Indian organized retail firms such as Spencer's, Food World etc. support retail reforms and
consider international competition as a blessing in disguise. They expect a flurry of joint ventures with global
majors for expansion capital and opportunity to gain expertise in supply chain management.

The fear that small retailers will be crowded out after the entry of FDI in retail in India is not a proven fact;
rather they would strengthen their market position by turning innovative or contemporary. Growing economy
and increasing purchasing power would more than compensate for the loss of market share of the
unorganized sector retailers Innovative government measures could further mitigate adverse effects on small
retailers and traders. Farmers will get another window of direct marketing and hence get better
remuneration, but this would require affirmative action and creation of adequate safe nets. The Competition
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Commission of India would need to play a proactive role. India retail sector remains off-limit to large
international chains especially in multi-brand retailing. The concerns arising out of FDI in retail sector are the
impact of large foreign firms on employment in the retail sector, unfair competition and ultimately result in
large-scale exist of incumbent domestic retailers and the underdevelopment of the domestic retail industry.
However, these concerns will be gradually eased after innovation in this regard .

8. ARE OUR TRADITIONAL HANDCRAFTS DOOMED TO A SLOW

DEATH?

Handicraft is a craft or activity that requires skill with the hands. It is the oldest industry that man has been
involved with since the onset of civilization. It refers to a wide variety of work by which useful and decorative
objects are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It calls for creativity and precision on the
part of its practitioners. The ingredients for handicraft are received from nature. Everything like grass,
bamboo, rushes, plant fibres, straws and a host of many natural objects are moulded into items that are both
practical and aesthetic.

India is a culturally rich country where craftsmanship exists in umpteen forms and styles. Highly skilled
artisans of India are par excellence and produce such enchanting handicrafts that attract the attention of rash
observers.

Handicrafts made of bamboo, cane, bell metal, bone and horn of animals, brass, clay, dhokra, jute, paper,
rock, shell, wood, enamel, glass and lac are produced by lakhs of artisans and they form a rich segment of
India's cultural tradition. India has potential for making handicraft a lucrative industry, but it is yet to be
realized considering the low performance of the sector. Though handicraft industry constitutes a very small
portion of India's exports, it still plays a major role in contributing to India's population. In 2014-15,
Indian handicrafts exports stood at US$ 4.5 billion, up approximately 15.4 per cent over the previous year's
exports. Exports of Indian handicrafts have increased at around 16.4 per cent since 2008-09. Indian handicrafts
are exported across geographies, with the top 10 destinations being the US, the UK, the UAE, Germany,
France, Latin American countries (LAC), Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Australia.

According to various reports, every Indian state comes with their own style of handicrafts that displays
distinctiveness. There are ample opportunities for growth present in the Indian handicraft sector. Strong
international presence of Indian handicraft products, huge trained and skilled manpower base, rise export
market for quality products across Europe, Latin America and US, traditional knowledge base, rising flow of
tourists in India and change in the life styles are some of the opportunities available in the Indian
market sector.

However Indian handcraft sector suffer from various problems that hinder its growth. In spite of having
diversified products, some part of Indian market is still untapped and market is price sensitive. Products are

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high priced in big and metro cities, which are beyond the reach of people belonging middle and lower middle
class. Craft producers have to compete on price, quality and delivery for different segments. There is poor
Promotion for craft products in national market. Even in the local market handicraft product does not sell as
desired due to their higher costs.

There is lack of awareness about new traditions and among craftsmen. It is difficult to balance the cultural and
commercial value of handicraft products. Inadequate supply chain management and distribution reduces the
sector's commercial viability and economic sustainability. Lack of befitting technological support and training
hampers progressiveness of the handicraft sector. Also there is a lack of research and development
for key handicrafts like ceramics, paper making etc. As a result there is always a shortage of skilled craftsmen
and labour to match the completion.

Inadequate material testing and performance measurement, inappropriate energy supplies to rural and urban
areas severely affect this sector. A large untapped and inaccessible market due to poor transportation
infrastructure is lying unattended. The predicament of handicraft industry in India calls for increasing training
centres to develop skilled craftsmen.

All the aforesaid factors put one in serious doubt regarding the future of handicraft sectors in India. However,
handicraft sector will not be totally vanished from the country as the former is associated with socio-cultural
life of human being. The grim scenario in the said sector can be recovered only by adopting various measures
by all stakeholders in the sector. First of all one important thing which should be immediately done is to
provide incentives to them for getting credit ratings done from standardized agencies that would address
issues of scale as well as information and hence it would bring in the much needed capital in the sector. Banks
can play a critical role in financing these self-help groups as has been demonstrated by other sectors over the
last few years. A cluster based approach may be the possible solution in order to prevent infrastructure
bottlenecks that the sector faces and hence entrepreneurs in the sector would be positioned to take
advantage of the developments. Lack of skill development can be addressed through the government agency,
National Skill Development Council which is involved in addressing the skill gap in the country in a big way.
Last but not the least appropriate institutional arrangement and effective credit policy will go a long way in
sustaining the growth in the handicraft sector.

9. IS E- COMMERCE DESTROYING THE BRICK AND MORTAR

RETAIL STORES?
In this fast paced modern world, our lives are becoming digital & technology-oriented and so do our shopping
experiences. A large number of people these days like to shop online and also there are many, who still prefer
shopping offline from various retail shops. While brick and mortar storefronts contribute to a large amount of
retail sales, online shopping at the same time is rapidly gaining popularity from last many years.

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 Sample Essay for RBI Grade B 2019

Online platforms purchase goods in bulk having a large number of hubs and warehouses to store goods this
enables low logistics cost and brings economies to scale. In addition to this, there is no middleman between
the seller and the buyer so there are no repercussions on profit. Due to this, they are able to offer deep
discounts to their customers thus attracting a huge lot of buyers to purchase online.

Keeping this in mind, the government has now permitted 100% FDI under e-commerce for encouraging the
online sales and attracting the foreign investors to invest and boost up the Indian e-commerce business. The
consequence of which, deep discounts are given to the customers and they prefer buying stuff online thus
leading the retailers to suffer badly. This is further making them rank low for CCI (Competition Commission of
India) as no policy is made for their betterment and growth.

Despite of capturing the market and making huge sales every year through online portals by Amazon, Flipkart
and snapdeal; these e-commerce websites are doing no good and suffering huge amount of losses. The
government should make proper policies for the online merchants to have a level playing field for all the
players in the market and properly implement it as well, as it contributes to a great extent towards the GDP of
our country.

10. INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE

Before Insolvency and bankruptcy code resolution of bankruptcy didn’t have a unique path in India because of
multiple laws like companies act 2013, SARFAESI 2002, Sick industry companies’ act 1985 and Industrial
dispute act 1948. Despite of so many laws it neither aided prompt recovery by leaders nor swift restructuring
of indebted firms. To tackle the issues with the current insolvency regime, the government had set up a high
level Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee (BLRC) in August 2014 under Dr. T. K. Viswanathan (former Law
Secretary). This committee had submitted its report in November 2015 while suggesting new institutions and
structures to modernize the present outdated system.

Thus forming Insolvency and Bankruptcy code in 2016. It becomes the single law that deals with
insolvency and bankruptcy by consolidating and amending various laws relating to reorganising and insolvency
resolution. It aimed at creating an overarching framework to facilitate the winding up of business or
engineering a turnaround or exit within a time bond manner (180 days, extendable by another 90 days under
certain circumstances). The institute under the IBC, 2016 rests on four pillars which are (a) insolvency
professionals (b) Information utilities (c) Adjudicating authorities (National Company Law Tribunal;NCLT) and
Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) (d) Insolvency and bankruptcy board of India (IBBI).

11. LABOUR REFORMS

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 Sample Essay for RBI Grade B 2019

More restrictive state level employment regulation have been shown to reduce labour market dynamism and
reforms to ease regulations tends to increase the creation of regular jobs ~ OECD, 2007; Goldar and Agarwal,
2010

Apart from this there are many other problems of wrong regulation policies like manufacturing firms with
more than 100 employees must gain permission from Ministry of Labour and Employment to dismiss just one
worker. Due to which 84% of manufacturing firms have less than 50 employees. This also lead in growth of
informal firms which are less productive, smaller and even it’s workers receive low salary, are less likely to
receive training lack unemployment insurance and pension scheme. Over a lifetime this disadvantage can
dramatically increase risk of poverty (particularly after retirement) and will be troublesome to reach needy
people for social insurance scheme.

So to tackle all these problems on 10th August 2017 Labour code on Wage was introduced in Lok Sabha to
simplify amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of existing Central Labour Laws. Four Labour
code of Wages has been drafted by Ministry which include (a) Industrial Relations (b)Social Security & Welfare
(c) Occupation Safety (d) Health and working Condition respectively. The process of Legislative reforms on
Labour on Labour includes consultation with stakeholders including Central Trade Unions, Employers’
Association and State Governments in the form of tripartite consultation. Suggestions received during the
tripartite consultations are taken into account while finalizing the amendment in various Acts or Rules.
Ministry has taken number of legislatives initiatives in labour laws during the last 3 years like Amendment to
the payment of Bonus Act 1965, Payment to wages (Amendment) Act 2017, Child Labour Amendment Act,
Maternity Benefit Amendment Act 2017, The Employee Compensation Act, Model Shops Establishment Bill
2016 etc.

These reforms will help in inclusive growth of labours through Social and Monetary penetration by (a)
incentivized employees to have formal written contract (b) Providing the firms in seasonal business to hire
worker flexibility (c) It will provide better skills and training to workers (d) recognizes worker by special
numbers like Aadhar linking better delivery of social security mechanism for unorganized sector employees.

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